


Marine Biology

by wildfrancium



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Summer, there is sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2017-12-26 15:25:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildfrancium/pseuds/wildfrancium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael Jones, while down in Florida helping his grandmother for the summer, winds up having to complete 100 hours of community service at a local marine wildlife center. There, Michael meets Lindsay and his summer turns from extremely boring, to quite interesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 100 Hours

Florida had managed to get one hundred times worse in less than forty eight hours.  
Michael was released with 100 hours of community service at a local marine wildlife center a quarter mile away. It was blistering hot and the air was thick. He’d never get used to the humidity. Thankfully the car had air conditioning.   
After getting in, he let the air blow on him while he rested his forehead on the steering wheel and sighed. One of these days the world would stop fucking him.  
But today was not that day.

He drove back to the small trailer park and reluctantly got out of the cold car. His grandma was outside in a muumuu and pink slippers watering dead plants. “Grandma,” he called and she turned to grin at him.  
“Thought I’d get the chores started,” she told him as he turned off the hose.   
“Let’s go eat lunch,” Michael said leading her back inside where it was cooler. He sat her down and started making sandwiches.   
Michael had been the one to get stuck watching grandma during the summer while his uncle and family, who normally kept an eye on her, went out of town. Since Michael wasn’t doing college, his parents had seen no reason why he shouldn’t be shipped off to help an aging crazy lady.   
They ate in silence as was routine. Sometimes his grandma would talk or hum, but she mostly stared out the window.   
“Grandma I’m going to be out all afternoon,” Michael told her. He was supposed to report at one and leave at five.   
“Oh where are you going?” she asked and he shrugged.  
“Marine Wildlife Rescue,” he said. She nodded.   
“They run a summer camp program. Some of the kids here go to it,” she explained. Michael prayed he wasn’t going to be supervising a bunch of sweaty kids for the next four weeks.   
“Yeah I’m gonna … do stuff there.” She smiled.  
“That’ll be wonderful Mikey! I bet you’ll make lots of friends,” she told him. He forced a smile. He didn’t need friends here. He had friends at home. 

Michael changed his shirt before going back outside. It was probably a mistake, but he felt like he shouldn’t reek of sweat. Although he was sweating before he even got to his car.   
He started the air and didn’t drive until he was cooled off. He’d looked up the directions and it was simple enough.   
The drive was short. The building was painted blue and green with a wide porch and driftwood railings. There were wind chimes hanging by the door and an overly large WELCOME sign on the doorknob. There was music coming from inside. Michael cursed himself and went in.   
The place was dimly lit and smelled like fish. There was an information desk, but no one sitting at it. That annoyed him.   
But then the door behind him banged open. The guy in the doorway was holding two buckets.   
“Sorry bout that. I’ve got no hands so the only option was to kick it,” he explained with a hard to miss British accent. He set the buckets on the counter. The guy looked about Michael’s age, but this guy was tan whereas Michael looked as if he’d never seen sun in his life. “Lindsay helping you?”  
“What? No. No one is,” Michael informed the guy who was pushing up his pink sunglasses and wiping his face with the edge of his shirt.   
“What? Then where’s Lindsay?” the guy asked and Michael crossed his arms.  
“How the fuck would I know? I just walked into this fucking place!” he snapped. He was irritated. He didn’t want to be there and much less so considering it was sweltering inside the building. The guy just grinned. That pissed Michael off more.   
The guy went around the desk and knocked over a few things before sighing. “Well she didn’t take her keys, so she must be out back.”  
“Is she the owner?”   
“What? No, no she just works here, but she’s the uh what’s it called … first mate? Well, no Griffon is probably first mate so maybe Lindsay is the second?”  
“What the fuck are you rambling about?” Michael wanted to punch something. The guy laughed.   
“Sorry, sorry Lindsay just pretty much runs the place while Geoff and Griffon, the owners, are off doing day trips with the camp. What did you need anyway?”  
“I-“ Michael was cut off when the door banged open again. This time it was a girl in the doorway. She pushed up her sunglasses as she sipped her slurpee.   
“Who the fuck are you?” she asked after a moment. Michael wanted to pull his hair out.   
“I’m Michael,” he said flatly. She walked to the desk and pushed the guy out of the way. There was so clicking and a huffed laugh before she looked back up.   
“Michael Jones here for one hundred hours of community service Michael?” she asked. He wanted to be snarky, but instead he rolled his eyes.   
“Yeah,” he said assuming this was Lindsay. She pulled her red hair back into a pony tail.  
“Well, let’s give the guy a tour Gav,” she said picking up her slurpee and heading towards the back. The guy, Gav, motioning for Michael to follow.  
They went upstairs first. “This is where there are sinks and extra supplies and medicine and charts and shit. If something breaks just come up here and get another one. Chances are there are six or seven extra.”  
“Most animals are with us because they are hurt, but some are sick. We housed a sick seal for a week while it was being moved,” Gav chimed in. Lindsay nodded.   
“We have a lot of birds, but we focus on the dolphins. We’ve also got otters this year. We have low tide pool creatures and on occasion we will have other wildlife creatures in our care. We had a turtle for a while,” she continued.   
“There are dolphins here?” Michael asked. Lindsay drank her slurpee and nodded at him like he was dumb.   
“Out back,” Gav answered. Lindsay winked at Michael. He contemplated on whether or not he could get away with murder.   
They went downstairs and to the back. She showed him tanks of colorful salt water fish and the tide pools. Then there was the kitchen and freezer. They walked in and Gav immediately gagged. He reassured Michael that he was okay.   
“We usually have him feed everything else because chopping and blending fish guts has made him puke plenty of times for us to know it’s not his calling,” Lindsay told Michael as Gav gagged again.  
“Sorry,” he whined plugging his nose. “Ugh I can taste it in the back of my throat.” He gagged and coughed and finally Lindsay pushed him out of the kitchen. She opened the freezer.   
“Everything is labeled and there’s a binder with charts for what everyone eats. That’s probably what you’ll be doing most, chopping and feeding,” she told Michael.   
“Great,” he said sarcastically. She narrowed her eyes at him.   
“I get it. You’d rather be anywhere else. But this is an easy job and just a few hours a day. I swear to god though if you hurt or god forbid kill one of these animals I will be feeding you to the damn fish,” she said harshly. Michael stared at her and finally nodded.   
“I don’t hurt animals,” he told her. She smiled.   
“Good.” She pulled the freezer door shut and then headed out the back door motioning for him to follow.   
Out back was actually pretty amazing Michael had to admit. There were two large cages at least three stories high filled with various birds. But in the center were four large pools. Part of the pools were covered by an overhang while the rest were open air. Two pools were empty, one was filled with rocks, and Lindsay had already stripped off her shirt and shorts and was in her bathing suit getting into the last pool.   
“He’s still healing a lacerated fin,” Lindsay explained when Michael approached the pool. A dolphin swam around her.   
“Are you supposed to do that?”   
“Does it look like I fucking care? He might be wild, but he’s sweet. Put your hand in.”  
“Do what?” Michael looked at her like she was crazy. She held his gaze until he got on his knees and put his hand in the water. They didn’t break eye contact until the dolphin swam up to Michael and nosed at his hand. “He touched me!” Michael exclaimed half in shock. And Lindsay laughed.   
And maybe Michael thought she looked rather pretty when she laughed.   
But he’d dismiss the thought as he put his hand deeper into the water.   
“Awww are you playing with Paul without me?!” Gav whined jogging over.   
“Yes Gavin. But aren’t you supposed to be at the docks?” Lindsay asked and Gavin sighed.   
“Yeah they should be coming in,” he said kneeling by Michael and petting the dolphin before quickly getting up again and heading out past the pools and cages.   
“They?” Michael asked Lindsay.   
“Geoff and Griffon, the owners, and their summer camp kids. And you probably shouldn’t get too close or whatever since you’re a criminal,” Lindsay said simply and he felt his ears burn.   
“Not a criminal,” he muttered standing back up. She watched him.   
“Uh huh …” she said slowly before hoisting herself out of the pool. “Delinquent then,” she laughed and he crossed his arms. “Come on it’s lunch time for the animals.”

Michael almost gagged when Lindsay handed him the fish bucket. But he liked to think he took it like a man and kept everything down. They fed the birds and then the otters and finally got to Paul. Gavin was waiting by the pool with a little girl on his shoulders. Her white blonde hair was pulled into pigtails and she wore pink sunglasses like Gavin’s.   
“I thought the kids were going home,” Michael said. He also expected more kids.   
“Oh this is Clem,” Gavin told Michael as if that were supposed to clear it up. Michael rolled his eyes.   
“She’s his daughter,” Lindsay added as she fed Paul.   
“Oh yeah she is my Clementine, right Clem?” Gavin asked tickling her foot. She giggled and buried her face in Gavin’s hair. “She can be shy.”  
“Okay.” Michael smiled. He didn’t expect this guy to have a kid.   
“What are you smiling at? Get to work,” Lindsay snapped with a wicked grin. Michael scowled and Clem giggled.   
“I seen a whale,” Clem said. Michael turned to her and she buried her face in Gavin’s hair again giggling.   
“Geoff and Griffon took the little ones out to whale watch today. Tell him how big it was, Clem,” Gavin encouraged. Clem stretched her hands out.   
“This big,” she said and Michael smiled again.   
“How old are you Clem?” he asked finishing up feeding. He could feel Lindsay watching him.   
“Four,” she said holding up four fingers. “Lindsay made the cake.”  
“Her birthday was last month and Gav can’t bake,” Lindsay added. Michael kept nodding.   
“It’s nice to meet you Clem. I’m Michael.”  
“Are you daddy’s friend, Michael?” Clem asked. Michael glanced at Gavin and then at Lindsay. She shrugged.   
“Yeah I think so,” he said.   
“We are new friends Clemy,” Gavin told her.  
“Are you eating barbeque with us Michael?” she asked.  
“What?”  
“I’m sure Michael has to eat at his own house,” Lindsay stepped in.  
“But he’s welcome to come,” Gavin chimed in. “Geoff is a master chef.” Michael swore he saw Lindsay give Gavin a death glare.   
“I don’t want to intrude,” Michael said. He had been looking forward to going home and relaxing, but barbeque sounded better than the TV dinners he frequently ate. But then he’d have to spend more time with these people and Lindsay would probably continue to be all high and mighty and Gavin would continue to be a space cadet.   
“You’re going to reject a four year old?” Lindsay asked raising her eyebrows. Michael narrowed his eyes. He saw that gleam in her eye. She was pushing his buttons.  
“Fine. Fine just fine,” Michael said through gritted teeth. “But I have to check on my grandma first.” Lindsay smirked. Michael knew that she thought he was too easy. He balled his hand into a fist. Clem clapped her hands and then hugged Gavin’s head.   
“I want dinner now daddy,” she said as Gavin walked toward the building. Michael looked back at Lindsay. She still had that fucking smirk. She handed him the empty buckets.   
“Let’s get cleaning and then we can go eat,” she said. Michael took the buckets in defeat.


	2. BBQ Time

Lindsay had given Michael the address to the Ramsey house and told him not to dawdle. She spoke to him like a child to rile him up.

His grandma was outside again. This time she was sitting on the bench swing with a magazine that she didn’t seem to be looking at. “Oh Mikey you’re home! Look at this!” she held the magazine open to a page about 4th of July desserts. “We have to go to the store!” she announced. He helped her inside.

“We can go in the morning. You need to eat dinner,” he told her. She used to bake a lot, but Michael had heard she’d become more absent minded and tended to forget ingredients. He figured if he helped her it’d be okay to bake. 

“Mikey you smell like fish,” she commented and he sighed. He knew he reeked.

“I was at the marine wildlife center, remember?” he asked. She nodded looking at the magazine again.

“Did you make friends?” she asked as he heated up food for her.

“I guess. There were some workers there my age. This girl Lindsay and this guy Gavin. I’m going to go out to eat with them,” Michael explained. His grandma clapped her hands.

“I’m so glad you’re making friends out here. Your mother wasn’t sure you would,” she said. Michael rolled his eyes. Sometimes his mother acted like he was incapable of having a life.

“Here’s dinner gram. And don’t go outside once it’s dark okay? I’ll be back later. Just call if you need me?” he said setting her food on the table. He hoped she’d stay inside and watch TV until she fell asleep like most nights. She had only wandered a few times, but usually she only got two trailers down and someone would direct her back. He felt bad for leaving her for so much time, but she didn’t seem fazed by it. Michael had to remember that his uncle only checked on her once a day. She could take care of herself.

Michael changed for the third time that day and headed back out into the heat. The sun was starting to sink in the sky, but that did nothing to diminish the humidity.

The drive wasn’t long and took him into a small community of single family homes. The Ramsey house turned out to be a single story brick house with a porch and a dying lawn. Everything was dying here just as it was in the trailer park. Michael parked and walked up the front path.

“We’re back here,” Lindsay said appearing from the side of the house. She still wore her red t-shirt that said MARINE WILDLIFE CAMP 2011 and jean shorts. He was pretty sure she was still in her bathing suit too. Michael felt stupid for changing.

The backyard was a fair size. Michael followed Lindsay up onto the deck where everyone was. It was only them, Gavin and Clem, and who Michael assumed were Geoff and Griffon.

“Sorry we didn’t meet you earlier, Michael. The trip was crazy and then we had to get the canoes ready for tomorrow,” the woman sitting in a deck chair drinking a beer said. “I’m Griffon. Lindsay said she gave you the tour and everything.” Michael shook her hand and nodded.

“Yeah uh yeah she did,” Michael said.

“Hey and I did too!” Gavin exclaimed. The man at the grill laughed.

“Ignore him. I’m Geoff, owner of the center. At least most of the time. In the summer we kind of give it to Lindsay.”

“She takes good care of it while we teach the kids,” Griffon added. “Something to drink?”

“Yeah sure,” Michael said and Lindsay handed him a beer and took one for herself.  “How many are in the camp?”

“This year we’ve got fourteen including little Clem. Most of the kids are seven to ten,” Griffon told him.

“And me!” Clem added. She was sitting across the deck with a cat draped across her lap.

“She said you silly goose,” Geoff called to her. She smiled. “Man it’s so weird only having one little one around here. We’ve got a daughter too, but she’s away on the USA Adventure camp thing. Where is she now Griffon?”

“New Orleans,” she said and Geoff nodded.

“She’s the one who named Paul,” Lindsay told Michael. He was surprised at how laidback she was being now. She was relaxed in a deck chair on the other side of the table occasionally sipping her beer. She winked when his gaze lingered too long and he felt like an idiot.

After that Michael mostly listened to Geoff and Griffon talk about their day whale watching and about their plans for tomorrow. He leaned against the railing next to Gavin and occasionally stole looks at Lindsay. She was starting to look tired he’d noticed. Gavin on the other hand, was coming more to life the more he drank.

“Alright, foods ready!” Geoff announced bringing a platter of pork chops to the table on the deck.

“Come on Clem,” Gavin called and little girl stood pulling a walker around her before moving forward. She walked with slow jerky steps. Michael turned to Lindsay. She mouthed later.

When Clem got to the table, Gavin lifted her up placing her in the chair while everyone started serving themselves.

And the food was good. So damn good that Michael wished he had room for thirds. As they ate, Michael learned the Geoff used to actually be a chef in a five star restaurant, but it closed when the economy tanked. After that he worked full time at the Marine Wildlife Center, taking over for his parents who retired.

Griffon made boats. She crafted their two large sailboats as well as a number of canoes. She also worked with other contractors to make sailboats.

“I went to the center for the first time my senior year of high school,” Lindsay told Michael. “It was for AP biology and I was excited because I was going into marine biology. Basically the entire field trip I begged Geoff to let me work there.”

“I reluctantly let her. God she was so annoying, but I didn’t own the place yet and my parents were getting run down with all the work, so we needed someone to hold down the fort while they stepped back and relaxed. This was what? 2007? Geez where’d the time go,” Geoff laughed.

“And then Gav came along,” Griffon said.

“That was in 2008 … I think yeah?” Gavin said. “I was working on this nature program about the Gulf and we were going to different marine centers doing interviews. The project fell apart though, funding ran out, and Geoff was like hey come stay with us while you find more work.”

“Gavin does filming for wildlife shows featured on National Geographic and public television now,” Griffon explained.

“I try to keep my summers open though so that I can help out around here,” he told Michael.

“And Clem?” Michael asked.

“She’s been around the world for all the filming,” Gavin said proudly. The four year old was in his lap slumped against his chest half asleep.

“Sounds a lot better than being an electrician,” Michael said sullenly.  Lindsay cracked up.

“I would not have pegged you for an electrician, but then again … wow that’s just really lame,” she laughed covering her mouth.

“Ha. Ha. You’re so kind Lindsay,” Michael said sarcastically. She laughed harder.

“I can’t stop!” she cried. “Oh, oh Michael the electrician.” Michael rolled his eyes.

When Lindsay calmed down, her and Michael helped Geoff and Griffon with the dishes while Gavin put Clem to bed. They lived with the Ramsey’s.

“You gonna stick around for dessert Michael?” Griffon asked. He shrugged.

“Yeah I guess,” he said and Lindsay smiled.

“You better love it because if you don’t I’ll fucking kill you,” she murmured.

“I take it you made it then?” he whispered back. She winked and headed back outside.

Lindsay’s sponge cake was the best sponge cake he had ever had, but he only complimented her with, “Yeah it’s pretty good. Nice and moist.” She narrowed her eyes and he held her gaze while Gavin whined about not liking the word moist.

 

It was nine o’clock when they decided to wrap up. The Ramsey’s told Michael he was welcome any time and Gavin said he should come by on the weekend. Lindsay walked Michael to his car.

“So what’s wrong with Clem?” Michael asked feeling dumb, but he was curious. Lindsay shrugged.

“She was born with cerebral palsy and doesn’t walk very good. She was also slow to learn to talk, but they think her intelligence is fine.”

“And the mother?” he asked quietly.

“Not in the picture. She … a lot of shit when down when doctors thought there might be something wrong. Gavin barely managed to get her to agree to have the baby. But yeah, Clem was born and the mother wanted nothing to do with her. Cut off all contact with Gavin even. It was bad. There’d be days when Geoff or Griffon had to stay home with him because he was so distraught, but he’s pulled it together. He had to grow up a lot too. He was so immature ... still is,” she smiled. “But he’s a good father and he’s got Geoff and Griffon to help him. We try not to talk about the past though. As far as Clem knows her mom had to work very far away and she basically grew up with Griffon as a substitute one.”

“Damn that’s … fuck,” Michael muttered not expecting that story. “People are fucked up.”

“Yeah, but it’s about us moving forward that matters.”

“At least you aren’t the mother,” Michael said with a small laugh.

“What? You don’t want me to be fucking Gavin?” she asked raising an eyebrow.

“What? No what? I don’t know what I fucking meant,” Michael stumbled over his words. She laughed at him.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got no interest in him,” she reassured Michael and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “See you tomorrow, delinquent,” she added before walking off to her car down the street. Michael watched her go and cursed himself for saying something so stupid. 


	3. Waves

The week was routine. Michael would sweat through his shirt, clean cages and tanks, suffer through food prep, clean around the building, avoid people that came inside, and then feed everyone. But he also spent a lot of time fooling around with Gavin who ended up in the empty pools more often than not. They’d joke, Gavin would try to get on Michael’s nerves, Michael would hit him, Lindsay would roll her eyes and tell them to behave while trying to hide her smile.

Michael dealt with a large dose of snark from Lindsay daily. Lots of comments, to which he’d retort, she’d laugh and roll her eyes, but then she’d grin and he felt satisfied.

Towards the end of the day, after Geoff and Griffon would dragged themselves home exhausted and Gavin and Clem headed  out with them, when it was just him and her, she would bring him a slurpee from the 7-Eleven down the street.

The first time she did it was Wednesday. He was sweeping up the birdseed he had spilled and Lindsay had appeared and laughed at him. After her taunting was over, she handed him the slurpee and went to sit on the edge of one of the empty pools. He’d taken it and thanked her and then questioned if it was poisoned. She laughed but didn’t answer. Michael risked it.

When the action was repeated on Thursday he was surprised. Lindsay noticed and simply said he’d worked hard.

On Friday, Michael was secretly looking forward to it. He was restocking the freezer when Lindsay showed up. “Are you glad you get the weekend off?” she asked. He hadn’t thought about it

“Yeah I guess. You guys still work though right?”

“Our job never ends,” she laughed and handed him the slurpee. “Feel free to stop by if you want.” Michael smirked.

“Gonna miss me, Lindsay?” he teased. She rolled her eyes.

“In your dreams Michael Jones. I’m just saying. It gets boring around here.” He had to admit that she was right about that. He’d been doing more reading then he did in high school. He promised his grandma he’d help her bake over the weekend at least.

“Yeah but at least I can be at home and not here busting my ass,” he laughed.

“Oh like your work is so hard,” she said as he followed her on their last rounds before lock up. “What are you doing on the fourth?”

“That’s what? Thursday?”

“Yeah do you have plans?” she asked. Michael drank his slurpee. His grandma wanted to go to the party at the senior center and he had said he’d take her. He didn’t have community service hours that day.

“My grandma wants to go to the thing at the senior center in the after noon,” he said and Lindsay laughed. Of course she laughed.

“That’s sweet, such a sweet little Mikey,” she giggled. He glared at her. She pushed him out the door and locked up. “Geoff has a barbeque thing on the fourth and then we go watch fireworks. They said to invite you. And your grandma if you’d like.” She told him as they walked to their cars.

“I can ask I guess,” he said. Lindsay rolled her eyes.

“How old are you? Just say you’ll come,” she said putting her hand on her hip and sucking her slurpee nosily.

“Jesus so fucking pushy,” he complained. She lowered her sunglasses. “But yeah I guess I can fucking go. Besides Gav would probably turn into a whiney bitch if I don’t accept.” She laughed.

“Very true. Dinner is at five but I’ll remind you,” Lindsay said opening her car door. She climbed in.

“Later asshole,” Michael said. She waved.

“Later fucker!” she called and slammed her door shut. He flipped her off and got into his own car.

 ============================================================================

 

Michael didn’t want to admit that he missed the marine center over the weekend. He’d spent the two days driving his grandma around, baking cookies, and playing video games with his friend Ray back home. Ray had mocked him the entire time about his crush on Lindsay and told Michael to suck it up and ask her out. Michael said there was no way in hell.

When Monday afternoon rolled around Michael felt almost eager to get to the center. It was another hot sticky day and when he walked in the place was deserted. Faint jazz played in the background, but when he called out no one answered.

He went back to the front desk to see if Lindsay left a note or something. Instead he found an envelope addressed to himself. Michael rolled his eyes when he read the note inside. “Welcome back fucker” Lindsay had written in pink pen. He took a sticky note and jotted down “glad to see you too asshole” and stuck in to her computer before going to start cleaning.

“Hey Michael!” Gavin called happily as he came up from the docks.

“Hey. What was happening down there?” Michael asked.

“Ah I was just sending Clem off. They were leaving like ten minutes before you got here. And she wasn’t feeling great this morning so I was hovering.” Michael nodded as he cleaned. Gavin helped out.

“And where’s Lindsay?” Michael asked casually. Gavin shrugged.

“She might have gone to get office supplies or something. She is taking notes on the morning tides and I think she needed paper? I don’t know. If you haven’t noticed she kind of wanders off sometimes.”

“Yeah I’ve noticed,” Michael said. He refused to admit to himself that he really wanted to see her.

“Hey are you assholes talking about me?!” Lindsay came up behind them and draped her arms over their shoulders. “And Gav I went to get popsicles from the 7-Eleven. Geoff texted me.”

“Geez Lindsay I’m sure you were a cat in a past life,” Gavin whined. She laughed.

“Welcome back Michael,” she said with a smile. “I saw you got my note.”

“Guess that means you got mine,” Michael smirked. She laughed and playfully shoved him.

“Get back to work before I report you,” she teased and headed back inside. Michael shook his head. For being forced to do community service hours, he found himself extremely lucky to work with these people.

 

Michael was rewarded with the last crèmesicle after the campers had theirs. He was taking a break, hiding from Lindsay’s watchful eye and snarky comment about him slacking, by Paul when Gavin and Clem found him and offered him the popsicle.

But of course with them came Lindsay. “Slacking off Michael Jones?” she tsked. He rolled his eyes standing up.

“It was five minutes,” he retorted and opened his popsicle. “What do you even do? Or is this your real job?” he shoved the popsicle into his mouth.

“I collect data for the wildlife preservation of Florida. I take population count of certain animals,” she said using the tone that made her sound like she was explaining something simple to an idiot.

“That sounds … terrible,” Michael said holding off on his language as Clem watched intently.

“Come with me tomorrow,” she said.

“What?”

“I’ll pick you up and show you how terrible it is,” she told him. There was a gleam in her eye. It was almost like she was challenging him.

“Give me the time Tuggey,” he said firmly.

“I’ll be there are five thirty a.m.” she told him. Michael never got up before sunrise, but Lindsay would never know that. “And you are buying the coffee.” She then turned on her heel and headed back into the building. Michael was left to finish his popsicle and shrug at Gavin’s questioning expression.

 ============================================================================

 

Michael sat feeling dazed at the kitchen table. He rubbed his eyes again. It was too damn early, but he couldn’t wuss out. He’d left a note for his grandma, but doubted she’d be awake before eight. A text alerted him she was in the trailer park.

Outside, even though it was dark, was still stuffy and humid. Michael hated it, but knew Lindsay’s car would be cold. She rolled up and her tires sounded louder than they should on the asphalt. Michael cringed and went to the passenger side.

“I half expected you to cancel,” Lindsay teased as he got in.

“I’m not a bitch,” he retorted. She laughed and drove out of the silent trailer park. Music hummed softly over the drone of the air conditioning. Michael and Lindsay were quiet and occasionally yawned, but said nothing until she pulled into the Starbucks parking lot. “Do you do this every morning?” Michael asked and she shook her head.

“I make my own coffee, but you’re buying so I’m not going to say no,” she said with a grin. He’d forgotten that he was paying.

They ordered their coffee and once in hand, retreated back to the car where they spent a good three minutes sipping quietly and waking up.

“Alright let’s do this!” Lindsay said full of energy.

“Do what?” Michael still had no idea what was going on. She was headed for the water though.

“It’s feeding time. I take roll call,” she told him and he looked at her like she was an idiot. Lindsay laughed. “In this bay, a shitton of sharks show up at dawn to feed and I count them, well estimate. Then I report the information and they tally it with other information to get the rough number of sharks in the area? I don’t know I’m collecting data for someone doing research,” she explained.

“Why can’t they do their own data collecting?” Michael muttered.

“Hey I get paid so that’s all I care about.”

 

There were a lot of sharks in the bay. They sat at a picnic table up on a ridge and through the blue water Michael saw numerous large black shapes swimming along.

“How the fuck do you count them?” he asked. Lindsay set down a binder and picked up some binoculars.

“Wait for the peak and then count fast,” she said simply. Michael watched her. She was sitting on top of the picnic table. She was wearing a white and yellow stripped top and jean shorts. He liked how she looked. Her hair was pulled back and she was muttering to herself, but he really liked the way she looked. Maybe the heat was getting to him.

“How long does this last?”

“I can’t count if you talk,” she answered and he scowled. He looked back at her and then over at the water. The beach was deserted as it should be.

“I’ll be right back,” he muttered getting up quickly and going down the path to the beach. He found a long stick and began dragging it through the sand. When he was done he ran up the path and sat directly next to Lindsay grinning. She turned to him.

“Did you really just draw a giant dick in the sand?” she asked raising an eyebrow. He laughed.

“Yes,” he told her and she shook her head.

“Oh Michael Jones, what am I going to do with you?” she asked and he laughed again. She smiled.

And he really wanted to kiss her.

The thought caught him off guard and he ended up laughing again and she rolled her eyes.

“Remind me never to take you with me again,” she laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The thought wasn’t going away.

“I am a fucking joy to be around,” he said boldly. She laughed again and gave him that look again. He chewed on his lip and was about to turn away when she leaned in and kissed him.

She pulled away almost instantly and turned back to the bay raising the binoculars. Michael stared at her his mind completely blank. He reached out for her automatically and gently pushed the binoculars down. He stood in front of her on the bench and leaned down and kissed her cradling the side of her head. Her free hand wrapped around his wrist as she leaned into the kiss.

It lasted less than a minute. They both pulled away to breathe and Michael stood up straight balancing on the edge of the bench. She looked up at him.

“I expected you to be bad at kissing,” she said. He crossed his arms.

“I’ve kissed a fucking girl before. I’m not twelve,” he said scowling. Lindsay laughed and took his hand.

“I’m kidding Michael,” she said with a soft smile. He relaxed.

“So uh … did I mess up the count?” he asked breaking the silence. She shrugged.

“It’s all estimation,” she told him.

He wanted to kiss her again. She continued looking up at him. She licked her lips.

“Let’s go down to the water,” she said abruptly.

“Mmm,” he answered hoping off the bench and followed her down to the water.

“You ever been surfing?” she asked as they walked. He shook his head. “Well then you are definitely coming out with Geoff, Griffon, Gav, and me on the weekend. It’ll be great.”

“Lindsay,” Michael said stopping in the sand.

“Hmm?” she stopped and looked back at him. She took her hair down.

“Please tell me you’re not going into the fucking water right now,” he said slightly worried. She laughed.

“Yeah cause I’m a huge fucking idiot, Michael,” she said and kicked water at him.

“Hey!” he snapped and chased her. She was fast but he caught up and grabbed her waist. “Wanna do that again? You wanna do that again, Lindsay? Get me wet. What are you, Gavin?” he murmured as she struggled to get away.

“Thought you looked a bit hot,” she said pulling against him only to knock them both into the oncoming wave. They were both instantly soaked. She burst out laughing as he pulled seaweed off his head. He threw it at her. She crawled away and he grinned scrambling after her.

“No Michael no not the seaweed!” she protested as he hit her with it.

“No I think it looks fucking good on you Lindsay,” he commented. She pulled it off and Michael was hit square in the back by another wave knocking him forward. He spit out a mouthful of sand as Lindsay choked on saltwater while she tried to laugh at him.

“God Michael my fucking ribs,” she said still choking and laughing. He spit out more sand and water.

“Fucking waves!” he yelled as another hit them. Both of them got another mouthful of water. “This isn’t fun anymore!” Michael shouted at the water. Lindsay draped seaweed over his head. “Fucking thank you Lindsay,” he said sarcastically.

“Anytime Michael. Here comes another!” The wave rushed the shore and crashed onto them.

“Why are we fucking doing this?” he asked. She shrugged.

“Same reason you swear so much. Nothing else to do and we’re all revved up on coffee,” she said with a grin and stood up running away from the next wave.

As they ran up the beach Michael reached out to catch her shoulder and turn her. They paused for a moment and this time he kissed her. They stood there frozen, just their lips pushing against each other’s. He kissed her until his lungs were on fire. Michael pulled back and took a deep breath.

Lindsay smiled at him, breathing hard, cheeks pink, hair plastered to her face, dripping wet, but smiling that mischievous smile that riled Michael up.

Whatever they were doing, it was far from over. 


	4. 4th of July

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having way too much fun writing this. :)

A car horn woke Michael up at 9:30 AM Thursday morning. Since he hadn’t planned on getting up, he’d stayed up late with on XBOX Live. He turned over ignoring the horn even though he was pretty sure the horn was outside the trailer. 

There was a brief moment of silence before banging on the door started. His grandma answered and he tried to block out the voices, but he knew it was Lindsay … and Gavin? 

He sat up rubbing his eyes. He slept on the pullout couch I the living room just to the left of the door. He just put his glasses on when Lindsay, Gavin, and Clem came in. 

“Time to get up my boy! We’re going to the parade!” Gavin stated loudly. Michael felt hung over even though he hadn’t had much to drink. 

“Parade!” Clem echoed. Michael blinked at them. 

“Wait what?” he asked and Lindsay rolled her eyes. 

“Come on and get up Michael! It’s the Fourth of July!” Lindsay shouted at him and threw him a shirt. He stared at the shirt. It was red and white stripes. 

“I’m not wearing this,” he told her and she pointed at herself and then Gavin. Lindsay wore a navy shirt with white stars and Gavin wore red and white stripes. Exactly like the shirt Michael was holding. He sighed and shook his head. “Do you always match?” he asked and Lindsay shook her head. 

“I wanted to match my boy!” Gavin said happily as Michael pulled the shirt on and stood up.

“Anything for you Gavy,” Michael cooed. 

“Nice boxers,” Lindsay comment. Michael looked down at his Pikachu boxers and flipped her off before grabbing shorts, underwear, and deodorant. 

“Can’t be tamed, Linds!” he smirked and holed himself up in the tiny bathroom to finish changing. 

He’d made out with Lindsay twice after their beach incident. Once she cornered him in the freezer while he was getting fish for the blender, and the second time he backed her up against her car and she got a little handsy. Yesterday she told him, “I don’t really know what the fuck we’re doing, but I like it.” He had agreed. 

Michael brushed his teeth and ran his hands through his hair a few times. He couldn’t believe he was wearing the ridiculous shirt. Ray was going to give him so much shit when he heard. 

Lindsay and Gavin were talking to Michael’s grandma while Clem drank some lemonade. “I’m glad you at least didn’t get my shirt from the junior department like Gavin’s,” Michael said putting on his shoes. Gavin squawked. 

“It’s not that tight! Lindsay said it wasn’t that tight!” he protested. Clem laughed. 

“You like tight clothes, daddy,” Clem said and Michael pointed at her. 

“See? It makes you look like a douche,” Michael laughed and Gavin whined.

“Boys, boys am I going to need to separate you?” Lindsay asked. Michael shook his head laughing. 

“Alright if we’re doing this then let’s fucking do this thing!” he shouted and headed out into the heat waving good bye to his grandma. 

 

The parade was crowded. As they walked to find a spot Clem asked Michael if he liked her dress. She told him Griffon had made it. It was a simple white dress with red polka dot straps and ruffles in different red and blue patterns on the bottom. He said it was much nicer than his shirt. She giggled. 

While they were walking Michael also noticed the blue star barrettes Clem had put in Gavin’s shaggy hair. Michael made sure to take plenty of pictures. 

Michael couldn’t remember the last time he went to a Fourth of July parade. He told Lindsay he was probably fourteen. She was appalled. 

They watched the floats go by. They caught candy for Clem. They all sang along when they knew the songs the marching bands were playing. They were sprayed by super soakers. Gavin didn’t like that and hid behind Michael. Clem laughed so hard she almost fell off Gavin’s shoulders. Michael and Gavin danced around when one band played Beat It. Lindsay said they were both morons so they sang to her instead. 

At one point during the parade, when the float for the library was going by, Michael’s hand brushed Lindsay’s and they somehow managed to entwine their fingers. Gavin bounced around with Clem singing Having Fun Isn’t Hard When You’ve Got A Library Card, which Michael pretended not to know the words to. 

“I like the Doctor Jekyll Mr. Hyde song from that episode,” Lindsay said leaning close to Michael’s ear. 

“What?” he asked surprised. She looked at him like he was fucking stupid. 

“You don’t know that episode of Arthur?!” she asked raising her eyebrows judging him. 

“I know the fucking episode, I was just caught off guard that you knew the episode,” he defensively. She grinned. 

“You do?” she asked sounding incredulous. 

“Duh,” he scoffed. “They make the cardboard box TV thing and do music videos for D.W.” 

“Michael Jones I am impressed,” she said. He felt proud. 

And then he felt like an idiot for feeling pride over knowing information about a kids show. 

But they were still holding hands. 

The parade finished with a marching band playing Twist and Shout and had the entire crowd dancing. Even Lindsay joined in with the dorky dancing styles of Michael and Gavin. 

They shared Clem’s goldfish as they walked back to the car. 

“Party now!” Clem shouted putting Gavin’s sunglasses on. 

“Yeah we have to go get Michael’s grandma first though,” Gavin told her and Michael stopped. 

“What?” he asked. 

“Your grandma invited us to the senior center party and we were like hell yeah let’s go! So yeah, let’s go get grandma,” Lindsay explained. 

“I like grandma, daddy. She had jell-o,” Clem laughed. Michael had helped make that jell-o last night. 

“Wait, wait what this is my grandma,” Michael said. He shouldn’t really be surprised. His grandma loved kids, especially little ones. And now her youngest grandchild was turning ten. Of course she’d dote on Clem in half a second. 

“She said it was a square dance theme or something?” Gavin said. 

“A hoedown!” Clem shouted throwing goldfish. “We are going to dance right daddy?” 

“Of course baby girl,” Gavin said buckling her into her carseat. 

They listened to Disney songs on the way back to Michael’s grandma’s and he refused to sing along. Lindsay called him a wuss and belted out I’ll Make A Man Out Of You. 

He broke down at the chorus and then challenged Lindsay to see who could sing louder. When they stopped at stop lights they’d all start head banging until Clem squealed that people were staring. They got a little too into Colors of the Wind and Under the Sea was a contest of who could do a more obnoxious accent. 

 

While he waited for his grandma to finish getting ready Ray texted him laughing at his ridiculous shirt. Michael shook his head trying to process his morning. It turned out being way more fun than he could have imagined. He texted Ray back saying that at least he was celebrating. Ray called him more names and asked if he’d gotten with Lindsay yet. Michael quickly typed no and headed out after his grandma. He wasn’t sure if she wanted Gavin to know they kind of had a thing. He wasn’t about to make any obvious moves in fear of making her uncomfortable, but he did wonder if she’d be her bold self and make a move. He would definitely not complain. 

 

The senior center had a large banquet room decorated for the occasion. There were plenty of people there and Michael’s grandma soon disappeared to find her friends. So they decided to grab some food and have lunch. The staff was grilling so they had hotdogs, hamburgers, fruit salad, and potato chips. Michael put his grandma’s cookies and jell-o on the desert table. 

“When’s this music gonna start,” Lindsay complained. They’d finished eating and were waiting for the band to finish setting up. She’d had her leg resting against Michael’s all through lunch. He’d had been daring and had his hand resting on her thigh. 

“I want to dance too Lindsay!” Clem said. She was sitting on her walker while Gavin french braided her sweaty hair. People kept coming up and telling her how cute she was. Gavin beamed proudly. 

“Soon Clemy,” Gavin told her starting the second braid. 

“Where’d you learn to braid?” Michael asked. 

“Griffon taught me. See she was always doing Clem’s hair and thought I should be able to do it too yeah? Since I’m the dad and everything. Took me forever to learn though. Bloody complicated,” he muttered at the end tying off the braid. Clem ran her hands over the braids. 

“It used to be so ugly,” she giggled and Gavin pouted. “It’s okay daddy,” she said patting Gavin’s knee. “I like it now.”

“Thank you Clemy,” he said kissing the top of her head. 

The music started shortly after and the dance floor was crowded with people learning to square dance. The four of them joined in. Michael couldn’t believe he was square dancing. He’d never hear the end of it from Ray. But then again he was laughing and smiling and dancing with Lindsay, so he really had no complaints. 

It was exhausting. There was a lot of sashaying and jumping around and twirling. Clem loved it. At one point the four of them were dancing in a square trading off partners and Michael was twirling around with Clem. Clem liked the tradeoff best. Michael nearly tossed her to Gavin before linking arms with Lindsay and spinning round and round. Michael and Gavin then partnered with some of the old ladies while Lindsay held Clem. 

“Alright boys, Clem says it’s dessert time!” Lindsay announced. 

They piled a plate full of cookies, cake, pie, and jell-o before heading back to their table. While they ate they were introduced to some of Michael’s grandmas’ friends. Michael didn’t realize his grandma knew so many people. 

“Gavin and Lindsay? What are you two doing here?” a man stopped by their tale with a young chestnut haired woman. 

“Jack? When did you get back?!” Lindsay exclaimed. 

“Like two days ago. This is the place my mom stays and we came to the party. And yes before you ask this is Caiti,” he introduced the young woman. She smiled. 

“I’ve heard a lot about Gavin and his shenanigans,” she said. Michael noted her accent. 

“Jack worked with Geoff at the restaurant way back when. He works at another one now and Gavin has done filming there,” Lindsay explained to Michael. “And guys this is Michael from Jersey and it’s his grandma we’re here with. He’s helping around the wildlife center.” Michael was extremely glad that Lindsay did not add that he was there for community service hours mandatory by law. 

“Are you coming to Geoff’s later?” Gavin asked and Jack nodded. 

“Yeah we’re definitely going to stop by for a bit,” Jack told them. 

“He wants me to try his grilling. Says he’s way better then Jack,” Caiti laughed. Jack groaned. 

“He is not. If anything we’re the same level of good,” Jack complained. She smiled and kissed his cheek.

 

Michael and Lindsay were on a beer run. The barbeque at the Ramsey’s was in full swing and the alcohol was going faster than expected. Mostly because more people showed up. 

Lindsay had her hair tied back in a ponytail and her bangs pulled to the side pinned with Clem’s star barrettes. Temporary tattoos decorated her arms as well as Michael’s. Clem had gone a bit overboard. She pulled into the parking lot cutting the engine and pushing her sunglasses up. She turned and smiled at Michael. 

“Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds. It’s all over now. Before we have begun, we’ve already won,” she sang along with the radio. 

He leaned forward, across the compartment between the seats and crashed their lips together. She kissed back threading her fingers through his hair. 

“I’ve waited all fucking day,” he murmured against her lips. She pushed her tongue into his mouth. 

They remained their awkwardly leaning into each other, hands wandering when they weren’t busy grasping at the dash to hold them up. 

She was first to pull away panting and scraping her fallen bangs from her eyes. “Let’s go,” she said voice rough. He hung his head in defeat and got out of the car. She grabbed his hand when he met her on the other side of the car. 

 

Once back at the party, Lindsay abandoned him for her own friends and Michael stuck close to Gavin and Clem. Every once in a while Michael would make eye contact with Lindsay from across the yard. She’d smile and other times she’d make a face. Michael would respond with an eye roll or a face of his own. 

“So there’s like a thing with Lindsay right?” Gavin asked after leaving Clem on the deck with Griffon. Michael shrugged. 

“Yeah I guess,” he said simply. “We don’t really … I don’t know what kind of thing it is,” he said frowning and sipping his beer. 

“Oh, well I can’t say I’m surprised. You see the real Lindsay. Usually she gives people nice business casual Lindsay,” Gavin explained. 

“You don’t like have a problem with it or something do you” Michael asked. 

“Nah. I mean yeah you’re hear by court order, but it can’t be that bad or you’d be in jail right?” he said with a laugh. 

“The reason is fucking bullshit,” Michael grumbled looking over at Lindsay again. He was kind of surprised that she hadn’t asked why he was doing community service. 

“I’m not gonna sit here and judge you. That’s all people do to me. So I’m just gonna tell you that no one fucking cares.” Gavin smiled and Michael finished his beer. Lindsay was beckoning him over with a wag of her finger. 

“We gotta feed the animals!” she yelled across the yard. 

“What the fuck are you talking about!?” he shouted and she rolled her eyes. She crossed the yard. 

“Sorry Gav, but I've got to borrow your boyfriend,” she said wrapping fingers around Michael's wrist. 

“I don't wanna leave,” Michael whined. 

“Oh come on,” she growled and Michael pleaded for Gavin to save him as he was pulled to the gate.

 

“Do you miss your family?” Lindsay asked as they drove.

“Eh not really. They are always digging into my business and being annoying.”

“I imagine them as being loud,” she laughed. 

“They are. My grandma is so quiet in comparison.”

“Did you come here by choice?” she asked. 

“What is this an interrogation?” Michael looked at her and she rolled her eyes.

“I wanna know the deep stuff. We all know that you are foul mouthed, you play too many video games, we binge watch all the same shows except that you're a weirdo and share the same interest as Clem in My Little Pony, you have a good taste in music, I mean hell I know that you prefer boxers over briefs! I wanna know more,” she told him. 

“I prefer you showing up around the corner to ask me my opinion on the Breaking Bad ending or ask me what kind of car I've got in GTA V,” Michael complained. 

“Is it a touchy question?” she asked softly. 

“No, no it was just kind of forced on me. I think it turned out better then I though though … except for the court order thing,” he laughed. “And I assume you are going to ask about that next, right?” he asked. 

“Yep,” she said and Michael sighed. 

“It's so dumb. My grandma is kind of starting to forget things and sometimes she takes things. I usually apologize and explain, but this one grocery store guy was being a dick and I got angry and we were yelling and stuff and he accused me of stealing and like I'm the fucking outsider in the small town and it was bullshit,” Michael explained quickly.

“Really?”

“Yeah really,” he said as Lindsay parked. And then she laughed. 

“Oh Michael Jones that would fucking happen to you,” she laughed wiping her eyes. 

“Thank you for laughing at my suffering asshole,” he said getting out of the car. She ran to him linking their arms still laughing. 

“I'm glad you're here though,” she said unlocking the door. He shook his head smiling and leaned over to kiss her. He was glad he was there too.


	5. Goodbyes

Michael knelt next to Lindsay on the bow of huge sailboat. They had loaded Paul into the water and were now watching the dolphins swim around the boat. Michael had never been in a boat so grand. The sails flapped lazily in the wind. They looked like they went up forever. Lindsay was leaning over the rail and Michael had his hand on her back to keep her from falling over. Geoff stood at the wheel with Griffon leaning against his side. Gavin had Clem on his shoulders looking out over the back of the boat. It was nice out on the water.   
“Do you want to come to my apartment after?” Lindsay asked sitting down and turning to Michael. He stretched.   
“Yeah,” he said and she smiled. She laid back on the deck.   
In the afternoon, while Michael was preparing lunch for the animals, Lindsay had cornered him in the freezer and asked if he was a virgin. He sputtered and told her to fuck off. She laughed and he told her that no he was not, but a freezer was not where he wanted to discuss it. She laughed harder and walked away.   
He was cleaning one of the cages when she appeared again and asked if it was a better time. He rolled his eyes and asked if she was a virgin. She said no and told him how she'd taken guys virginity before and she wanted to know what she was getting into with Michael.   
Of course she followed it all up with had he ever taken it in the butt.   
Gavin heard and started going on and on about how much Michael “loved it in the butt”.  
Michael threatened to put it in Gavin's butt.   
But the light-heartedness was to hide Lindsay's sadness. She was glad Paul got to go back to his pod, but she was going to miss him.   
Geoff and Griffon had been preparing to move Paul to the boat and Lindsay sat in the pool watching the dolphin swim circles around her. Michael just sighed, pulled his shirt off, and shucked his shorts before climbing into the water with her. She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.   
She said she thought he was afraid of dolphins. He told her to fuck off. He wasn't one hundred percent comfortable in the water with the wild animal, but all Paul did was swim up and around Michael before going back to whatever he was doing before.   
“He can tell that he's going and he's excited,” Lindsay said leaning against Michael.   
“Bet he'll be glad to get out of this fish bowl,” Michael added. She nodded.   
“I hate that we had to keep him here for as long as we did,” she admitted. “He belongs in the ocean.”  
“Lindsay, you belong in the fucking ocean,” Michael said. He wasn't going to get choked up over the freedom of a dolphin. This wasn't Free Willy for fucks sake.   
“I wish I was a mermaid,” she told him. He hummed.   
“No fucking surprise there,” he said squeezing her hip.

Now they were headed back to shore. The sun was getting low in the sky and the humidity was through the roof, but it felt good out on the sailboat. Michael hadn't put his shirt back on after getting in the pool, but he was wearing his shorts again. They were damp and uncomfortable.   
Lindsay took his hand and shielded her eyes with her other hand. She took a breath.   
“Don't you dare start singing again. I already have the song stuck in my fucking head,” Michael snapped. She laughed. When they got Paul back in the water she decided to lean out of the water singing some song from Hunchback of Notre Dame. The words had sounded vaguely familiar.   
But then again it was nothing compared to Gavin and Clem who were humming the Pirates of the Caribbean theme the whole trip.   
Lindsay pushed herself up onto her elbow and reached out running her fingers through Michael's hair. She leaned forward and kissed him. He brought his hand up to cup her face kissing her back.   
A shadow interrupted. Michael opened his eyes looking up at Gavin while continuing to kiss Lindsay.   
“Hi Michael,” Gavin said happily. Michael paused.   
“Is there a fucking problem?” Michael asked.   
“I feel left out,” Gavin said pouting.   
“Well you're not fucking joining,” Michael said. Gavin sat down anyway. Michael sighed. Lindsay laughed and moved so that her head was on Michael's chest. He played with her hair.   
They ended up discussing the end of season three of Game of Thrones and their predictions for season four. Gavin told them about one of his upcoming projects about shore birds. He got talking about the cameras he was going to use and Michael kind of spaced out. Lindsay engaged him though.   
Michael stared at the powder blue sky. It was turning peach with the setting sun. And he wondered how he got to that point. He was supposed to spend his summer cooped up in his grandma's trailer and instead he was laying on the deck of a handmade boat with a beautiful girl.   
Life is weird he told Gavin and Lindsay. She asked if he was having an existentialist crisis. He told her to shut the fuck up.   
Gavin agreed though. He said there were still days he was surprised that he was waking up to Clem sitting on his chest asking for pancakes. Gavin told them how there wasn't a day he wasn't glad for her existence though. He loved traveling the world with his own little ray of sunshine.   
Lindsay called him a sap.   
Michael rolled his eyes.   
But Gavin just shrugged and looked back at Clem who was sitting on Geoff's shoulders with binoculars.   
And somewhere deep inside Michael knew that he wanted something like what Clem and Gavin had.

Lindsay shook her wet hair at Michael one last time before pushing him towards the car. They had all decided to dive off the side of the boat when they reached the dock. Lindsay at least had her swimsuit. Michael just had wet boxers again.   
“Taco Bell?” she asked getting in.  
“Fuck yeah Linds,” Michael said banging on the dashboard.

Lindsay's apartment was what Michael expected. She had framed posters from Jurassic Park, Jaws, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones. There were action figures from Mario and Pokemon on the shelf by her TV. The pillows on her couch had cats on them.   
He took off his shoes and followed her to the kitchen table. He wrapped his arms around her waist nuzzling the back of her neck.   
“Our food is going to get cold ...” she said as Michael slid his hand under her shirt.   
“Fine,” he said releasing her and going to take a seat. She put her hair up.   
He asked if she was still sad about Paul. She shrugged. She said it was something that was inevitable.   
She asked what he was going to do when his community service ended. He shrugged.   
“Some things are just inevitable,” he mocked. She gasped in fake astonishment.   
“Michael fucking Jones you better come visit me or I'll send the animals after you!” she exclaimed.   
“I was actually thinking of asking Geoff if I could hang around for the rest of the summer. Just you know not as fucking slave labor,” he said simply.   
“I don't know if I like that idea. I need someone around to do the dirty work. Hell knows princess Gavin isn't that great at feeding,” she said. He laughed.   
“Guess I'll definitely have to stick around then. Can't have you getting your hands dirty,” he laughed.   
She flipped him off.   
He winked.   
She got up and threw away the garbage.   
“Come on Michael,” she said. He was up immediately.

She sat on the end of her bed and looked up at him. He took her hair down and tucked it behind her ear. He leaned down and kissed her. She pulled at the hem of his shirt. He rested his forehead against hers.   
“Michael?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I'm all for this slow stuff and all but right now I kinda just ...”  
“Yeah me too,” Michael told her kissing her harder and running his fingers through her hair. She pulled him out of his shirt. Her nails scraped lightly down his chest. He pushed her back crawling onto the bed over her and kissed her jaw and her neck. One of her hands dug into his damp mess of hair.   
He kissed her gently biting her bottom lip and pushing her shirt up. His hands were all over her untying her bathing suit and cupping her breasts. She sighed as he ran his thumbs over her nipples and then gently pinched. Her fingers tightened in his hair and she moved her lips faster against his. He pushed his tongue into her mouth squeezing her breasts again making her let out a soft moan. Michael grinned.   
Lindsay's free hand was sliding over his side pulling his body closer to hers as he dragged his mouth away from hers and moved to kiss her jaw and down her neck. He gently scraped his teeth across her collar bone before moving down and licking one of his nipples. She gasped. He sucked on the hard nub for a moment before licking the other. His hands were undoing her shorts. She tugged his hair groaning.  
Michael slid his tongue across her stomach going lower. He gripped her shorts and swimsuit bottoms and yanked them off roughly. He pushed her legs apart hands running over her knees and thighs. He kissed the soft skin on her inner thighs working his way down.  
“Fuck Michael!” she groaned pushing his head down. He let her. He licked down the center before nudging her folds apart with his tongue. He flattened his tounge and licked wetly up and down before using a hand to hold the lips apart. She squirmed underneath him. He hovered, breathing heavily, watching her shiver and groan before twirly his tongue around her clit. She gasped pulling his hair and pushing her thighs together. He smiled moving his tongue in slow teasing circles while his fingers gently rubbed against her entrance. She moaned loudly trying to move up against Michael's tongue.   
“Right there, right there, right there like that!” she babbled when he closed his mouth and sucked on her clit. He repeated the action until he could barely understand her.   
His fingers were able to easily slide inside her. He pushed them in and out while flicking her clit with his tongue. He was having fun making her a moaning mess.   
“I swear to fucking god Michael I am going to come in like a fucking second if you keep fucking doing that!” her voice was high pitched at the end. He kept his fingers inside her, but looked up from between her legs.   
Lindsay's hair was a mess. She was flushed and panting and looking at him with half lidded eyes. God he wanted her. He crawled back up kissing her hard.   
“Let's just get on with it,” she murmured undoing his pants. He nodded rocking back on his heels. She pointed to her night stand where a box of condoms sat. Michael grabbed one quickly ripping it open. His cock was aching in his pants.   
He stood up on the bed and shucked his still damp boxers and rolled the condom on. Lindsay was watching him with hungry eyes. Her lips were swollen and plump. Michael let his eyes rake down her body to where her hand was now busy rubbing her clit. She had her legs splayed waiting for him. He dropped to his knees.   
Michael took her hips pulling her closer to him and batting her hand out of the way. She watched him. He lined up before slowly pushing in. Her eyes fell shut as she arched up groaning loud. He rubbed her clit with two fingers. She grabbed her own hair tugging as she twisted below him.   
“Fuckkk,” she ground out when Michael got all the way inside. He moaned at the back of his throat bending down and gathering her up against his chest. Her nails bit into his shoulders. “Move,” she hissed into his ear.   
He thrust slowly at first letting her body adjust and get used to him even though she was practically begging for him to go fast. She moaned and kissed him feverishly. He hand one hand holding her to his chest and the other rubbing rapid circles against her clit.   
As he set a fasted pace he groaned loud. Michael wasn't one to make much noise during sex, but Lindsay was ripping the sounds out of him. Her nails were scraping down his back and over his shoulders, filthy words fell from her lips, and her legs hugged him close to her heated body.   
Lindsay came first. Her whole body spasmed and he was sure she'd drawn blood on his back. Her whole body tensed up making Michael's eyes nearly roll back. Lindsay let out a long gasping moan until falling boneless back onto the bed.   
She grinned at him. He continued bucking in and out until his orgasm was nearly ripped out of him. Watching Lindsay play with her breasts had sped him along and he came buried deep inside.   
“Fuck,” he panted flopping down next to her. She nodded. The breathed heavily in the silence before Lindsay stood up. She ran her fingers through her hair and headed to the bathroom. Michael took off the condom. He hadn't had sex in too long.   
He went and knocked on the bathroom door. She opened it and he threw away the condom and then grabbed her kissing her.   
“Shower?” she asked.   
“Mmm,” he murmured and let her turn the shower on.   
The water was refreshing and actually woke him up. Lindsay liked the sing in the shower. She really liked to sing in the shower. She rapped a song about Ash from Pokemon going to jail. She told him it was Starbomb. He said he should have known and then told her how his friend Ray was obsessed with Starbomb. She said it was the shit and was appalled that he'd never listened to it before. He rolled his eyes and pushed her under the spray.   
Instead of deciding to curl up and cuddle after their shower, Lindsay tossed Michael's clothes in the dryer and got dressed. They were going to go get slushie at a place in town that didn't close until midnight.   
It was just past nine.   
The drove with the windows down and Starbomb blasting. Michael told her she was crazy, so she sang louder. Michael threatened to get out of the car and walk. But she laughed and kept rapping about Megaman.

The Slushie Stand was crowded. They got their slushies and headed down the street hand in hand. Michael told her they should have brought some vodka to add. She told him they'd do that next time.   
She watched him eating. She said she liked his tongue. Michael smirked and squeezed her hips. He said he was going to have marks on his back. She laughed. Really hard. He told her she was a piece of shit.   
“Bitch you love me,” she grinned.   
“Wipe that fucking smirk off your face asshole,” he warned. She laughed.   
“I'm right though right?”   
“Maybe,” he said wrapping his arms around her. “Or maybe you are totally fucking wrong,” he laughed. She hit him.   
“Are you going to spend the night?” she asked.   
“You want me to?” she shrugged.   
“I just kind of want more sex and morning sex sounds real nice too,” she said simply. He crossed his arms.   
“You think you're so funny don't you Lindsay?” he asked and she burst out laughing.   
“Come on, come home with me Michael,” she said kissing his cheek.  
“Yeah okay cause you asked so nicely,” he told her. She laughed again.   
“Then let's go check on your grandma and get back home.” He followed her back to the car and sighed happily. He wanted July to last a lifetime. 


	6. Surfing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short little fluffy chapter. Longer chapters are on the way! Hope everyone enjoys because I really love writing this story.

It was Sunday morning and the beach was already fairly crowded. Michael had gotten up early to meet Lindsay at the Ramsey’s for a morning surfing lesson. He'd arrived just before 8 to find the Ramsey’s buckling five surfboards to the roof of their van. Clem was excited and talking a mile a minute to Lindsay while Gavin and Michael helped secure the boards. Apparently Clem loved surfing. She usually went with Geoff or Griffon, but sometimes Gavin took her on his board.   
“We haven't had much time with the camp and everything this summer, but the waves are said to be top today,” Gavin told Michael putting sunscreen on Clem.   
“It's about time we get out there. We haven't since June,” Griffon said. Gavin told Michael that Griffon was an amazing suffer.   
“She probably could have moved somewhere with better waves and warmer water and could have gone pro,” Geoff said. Griffon just smiled and shook her head.   
“Let's go,” Griffon urged. They piled into the van. Geoff and Griffon in the front, Gavin and Clem in the middle, and Michael and Lindsay in the back.   
Michael watched as the wind blew Lindsay's hair around wildly. She smiled at him.   
“Lately, running down to the riptide. Taken away to the dark side. I wanna be your left hand man,” she sang with the radio. “I love you when you're singing that song and I gotta lump in my throat cause you're gonna sing the words wrong.” Michael shook his head joining in. Lindsay had played the song on repeat the other day while they were working. She swore it was because she wanted to be on the beach and not that she wanted to annoy Michael to death.   
“I'm going to be singing that in my fucking grave,” Michael told her raising his voice over the wind. She laughed.   
“Good. That means you'll remember me,” she told him. He rolled his eyes and shoved her.

Michael stood on the beach with a white board with blue trim. Geoff, Lindsay, and Gavin were trying to teach Michael. First they had watched Griffon go out with Clem. She paddled out and Clem hugged Griffon's shoulders. Griffon then stood up as she descended down the wave with Clem balance on her shoulders. Michael was impressed.   
He was not impressed with the teaching styles of Lindsay and Gavin though. Geoff would explain and then they'd do a poor impression of what he was explaining. It was a lot of them lying on their boards flailing about pretending to paddle and then hopping onto their feet and standing up.  
“Both of you fucking suck,” Michael groaned when Geoff walked away tired of dealing with Gavin.   
“Let's just get in the water and see what happens,” Lindsay said pushing Michael towards the water.   
“Okay, okay fuck I can walk by myself Lindsay!” Michael snapped. She laughed taking his hand and pulling him in the cool water.   
The first time Michael didn't get up.  
The second time Michael didn't get up.   
The third time Michael almost got up and fell off the side.   
The fourth time he didn't get up he threatened to hold Lindsay under the water if she didn't stop laughing.   
The fifth time he failed Lindsay told him it was good he couldn't get arrested for being so fouled mouthed.   
He took a break and watched the others while he sat on his board. Geoff and Griffon made it look super easy. Gavin would simply pop up onto his feet and then get cocky and start moving around his board usually ending with him flying face first into the water. That made Michael laugh.   
Lindsay was good at it too he finally admitted. She didn't stand her first wave, but she did for the second one. Michael flipped her off. She gave him a rock on sign and stuck out her tongue. He shook his head.   
“Come on Michael Jones, it's time to paddle out again,” she said to him. He sighed, but followed her.   
He was able to get into a crouch now. He was afraid to stand all the way up though.   
But he did. For about fifteen seconds he was fully standing up on the board riding the small wave.   
And then he was falling over the side of his board.   
“Impressive Jones!” Lindsay hollered.   
“I'm the fucking best!” he shouted back beaming. He was exhausted, but actually being able to stand up gave him a rush.

An hour later everyone was spread out on the beach. Clem was digging in the sand while burying Gavin's legs. The rest of them sipped beer and ate chips as they stared out at the water.   
“I'm impressed that you had three completely successful waves,” Lindsay told Michael.   
“Would have been four if Gavin wasn't an idiot,” Michael griped. Gavin had launched himself out of the water tackling Michael off the board. Michael had dragged Gavin to the shore and threatened to beat him while Gavin squawked and whined about getting water in his nose.   
“Still three is good,” Lindsay said. Michael smiled to himself. There was no way he'd ever admit how proud he was of himself.

Ray: Wait so you tried surfing?  
Michael: yeah   
Ray: please tell me there's photographic evidence!  
Michael: fuck you   
Ray: hahahahahaha  
Michael: seriously fuck you

“I swear to god I smell like fucking fish,” Michael complained following Lindsay into her apartment.   
“Then take a fucking shower! Do you want me to wash your clothes too princess?” she asked. He clasped his hands and pouted.   
“Pretty please Lindsay?” he asked. She rolled her eyes. After surfing, they had stopped by the shelter and fed the animals. Lindsay had thrown raw fish at Michael from the balcony.   
“Then strip already,” she challenged. He smirked shucking his pants and pulling off his shirt. He gathered everything into a pile and handed it to her. She rolled her eyes taking the clothes to the washing machine.   
“Join me,” he said waltzing to the bathroom.   
“I was planning on it!” she called.   
She sang Riptide until Michael pushed her up against the wall and threatened to smush her. She just rubbed her butt against his dick. He said he was going to put it up her butt if she didn't stop.   
She laughed and said shower sex was dangerous.   
So he left the shower half hard and sexually frustrated.   
She promised they'd have fun after dinner. They were going out to eat with Gavin and Clem and they were going to the restaurant Geoff's friend Jack worked at. Geoff said it wasn't going to be anywhere near as good of food as he cooked. Michael didn't doubt that was the truth.   
The rest of the afternoon was spent on the couch watching shadows drift across the room as they watched anime. Lindsay was sitting with her head on Michael's chest and he had his arm tucked tightly around her. It was nice   
She asked about his friends back home. He told her more about Ray and then about his friends Miles and Kerry. He asked about her other friends. She said she didn't see them much because everyone was so busy. Her friend Barbara was coming back from a trip to France at the beginning of August.   
Neither of them talked about the end of summer. As it was Michael had six official days left at the wildlife center. And then it would be August. He was scheduled to leave the 25th. He refused to think about it and instead just pulled Lindsay closer. She looked up at him. He kissed her. It was nice.   
It was how he wanted it to be.  
It felt like he was finally an adult with a life.   
He kissed her again. On the mouth and then on the cheek.   
“Michael?” she asked.   
“Hmm?”   
“I think I'm falling in love with you,” she said quietly. He smiled and kissed the top of her head.   
“I think I'm falling in love too.”   
She smiled at him. He really liked her smile.   
And then she burped really loudly and he gave an exasperated sigh.  
“Way to ruin the fucking moment Lindsay! Good job,” he told her. She apologized profusely as she laughed. He told her it was too late and that he was going to have to beat her to death with the couch cushion.   
She laughed harder.


	7. Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, sorry it's taken so long to update!! Hope you don't mind that it's a bit short either.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Michael groaned pulling into the parking lot. A huge sign hung across the entry way. In bright blue letters it said, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL JONES. Balloons and streams decorated the front deck, railings, and door. Lindsay and Gavin were waiting inside. 

“Surprise!” they screamed throwing their arms up. 

“I'm going to fucking leave,” Michael groaned. They just grinned. The place was littered with balloons and decorated as well.

“Come on Jones. We've been up since five am doing this shit,” Lindsay said placing a tiara on his head. 

He rolled his eyes. 

Gavin wrapped a pink boa around his neck. Michael threatened to kill them all. They laughed. Lindsay told him to get the fuck to work and winked. 

 

Around two, he was ambushed and dragged back into the main part of the marine center. He adjusted his tiara and sat down in the chair Lindsay had presented him with. Gavin showed up with cake and they launched into singing.

“I'd mash your face into it, but we promised the others we'd save them a piece,” Lindsay said sitting next to Michael. Gavin had run down to the docks to help with the sail boats since the camp was on their way back.

“You're too kind,” he said sarcastically. She grinned. He leaned over kissing her gently.

“Gav and Clem made it, so be sure to thank her. Don't thank Gavin though,” she told him. He grinned eating his cake. Ray had wished him happy birthday over XBOX Live around midnight and his other friends had texted him throughout the day. He was going to go out to dinner with his grandma, but other then that he'd planned to keep it low key. He hadn't wanted to bother Lindsay with his birthday because he didn't want her to feel like she had to get him anything. 

“I'm going out to eat with my grandma later and I'd like you to come,” he said.

“Were you even going to tell me about your birthday?” she asked ignoring him. He shrugged. 

“I didn't want to make you feel like you had to get me anything,” he said simply. 

“Okay I'll accept that. I got you something anyway though. I hope you don't mind.”

“Lindsay, while I didn't want to trouble you, I'm not about to turn down a gift,” he said with a smirk. She rolled her eyes getting up and going to the front desk. 

“It's nothing special,” she said as he opened it. It was a stuffed Pikachu dressed as Link. He smiled and told her he loved it. She told him not to get sappy. 

“WHERE'S THE CAKE?” bellowed Clem from the back of the center. Michael was startled. He was pretty sure he'd never heard the little girl be that loud. 

She was perched on Gavin's shoulders wearing a boa that matched Michael's. She held a wrapped box in her hands.

“Clem picked out the present and made the card,” Gavin told Michael. 

The card was full of glitter and sparkle paint. Michael asked if it was really made by Gavin. Clem laughed and said yes. Gavin squawked.   
Next, Michael opened the present. It was a framed picture of Michael, Lindsay, Gavin, and Clem on the beach after surfing the other day. They were all laughing. Michael had beer in one hand and Lindsay's hand in the other. She was trying to tuck her wind blown hair behind her ear. Gavin had Clem on his hip and they were wearing their matching pink sunglasses. Gavin had his arm slung over Michael's shoulders...

Michael was at a loss for words. 

“Thought the picture kind up summed up the last month,” Gavin said sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. Michael shook his head and smiled. 

“Yeah I'd say you nailed it,” he told Gavin.

They finished the afternoon with more cake and singing. 

 

They were on their way to some fancy seafood place. The restaurant Jack worked at. Michael had picked Lindsay up at her house, but she was now driving them there. Michael got the backseat. 

She sang along with the radio and he admired her in the review mirror. Her hair was pulled back and she wore a purple sundress. She winked at him in the mirror. He rolled his eyes. 

 

Dinner had been delicious and after dropping his grandma off at the trailer, Michael and Lindsay swung by to pick up Gavin for a night of partying. 

The bar they went to was sitting on the beach overflowing with people. They squeezed inside for beer and cocktails. The music vibrated through Michael's entire body and they all had to shout to communicate. Michael took Lindsay's hand pulling her onto the crowded dance floor to dance to whatever song was blasting. 

Their bodies moved against each other. He kept his hands on her waist while she twisted and bounced against him. He grinned. She put her hands on his shoulders changing the way she swayed with the music.

Michael felt like he was on cloud nine. 

 

“God it's way too fucking hot!” Lindsay shouted at the ocean. They were all stumbling along the coast trying to cool down without actually swimming. They didn't want to drown. But it was hot in the bar. Michael had sweat through his shirt. 

“It's cooler out here!” Michael shouted at her. She laughed running at Michael who stood next to Gavin. Gavin was stretched out in the sand. 

“We've got to have a bonfire one night,” Gavin was saying. Michael thought they only did that stuff in the movies. 

“For sure!” Lindsay shouted dropping to her knees in the sand. Michael sat with them. The bar was still loud and lit up not far away. 

“Next week?” Gavin asked. 

“Yeah boi,” Michael laughed ignoring that Monday was his last official day.

“So did you have a good birthday Michael?” Lindsay asked leaning against him. He put his arm around her. 

“Couldn't have asked for a fucking better one,” he told her with a wide smile. She laughed and told him that made her really happy.


	8. Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait! Enjoy.

Michael walked into the marine center at 8 am sharp. Lindsay was sitting at the computer and the radio was playing Lady Gaga. He took a deep breathe and relaxed. Lindsay looked up at him with a smile. Michael stepped up to the desk. 

“Hi I'm here for my job,” Michael said. 

“How's it feel to walk in here a free man?” she asked. 

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” he said with a grin. She laughed. 

“Get to fucking work Jones. Or else I'm going to have to report you.” 

===============================

Even though he was doing the same work, it felt different to be in the marine center doing work that wasn't part of community service hours. Yesterday he'd spent most of the day at the police station filling out paper work and having a judge release him. It was tedious work that made him miss blending fish to feed animals.

The day went by normally. Michael swept and cleaned tanks. Lindsay sang loudly and harassed him. Gavin tried to push Michael into one of the pools. Michael flung fish guts at Gavin. Gavin threw up in the toilet for half an hour. Normal. 

What was not normal was the Ramsey's returning early. 

A bad storm was headed their way. Not a hurricane, but high waves and wind along with lots of rain.

“Our first priority is to get the sailboat out and then lock this place up,” Geoff told them. “Lindsay and Michael can you come with me in the boat? And Gav and Clem can go with Griffon in the van and get the trailer,” he said. They all nodded. 

Michael hadn't really noticed before, but the air outside was definitely tense and filled with static. It was overcast though and the clouds didn't look threatening yet. 

 

The marina was about half an hour away and Michael and Lindsay sat on the bow holding hands. He felt restless. He wanted to get off the boat and pace. Lindsay said it was going to be fine, but there was an edge to her voice. 

Everyone was soaked while trying to get the sailboat on the trailer. Michael had to keep getting into the water to guide the boat up. It was hard with a ton of other people getting their boats out as well. Lindsay was on deck tying down the sails. She was having trouble because the wind was picking up.   
She complained, but Michael felt no sympathy. Him and Gavin were busy helping another couple with their boat. It was calm in the marina, but all the people getting their boats out was churning the water. 

Michael and Gavin were soon running between boats to keep them from hitting. People were rushing. The water was knee deep and with soaked clothes, Michael felt like the ocean was trying to suck him out to sea. 

“That was hell. Get me out of here,” Michael told Lindsay when he finally made it to their van. He was soaked and exhausted. He pulled his shirt off wringing water out of it. 

“We're going,” Lindsay said looking up at the sky. Dark, heavy clouds were rolling in. The wind was getting stronger and Michael was pretty sure there was thunder in the distance. 

 

It was raining by the time the got to the marine center. Geoff instructed everyone on what to do. Michael was in charge of the windows upstairs. Having to close and lock the heavy shutters on the windows was not fun. Especially when the wind was trying to pull them away. 

“I have an alert app on my phone if the power goes out,” Lindsay told Michael as he pulled the last shutter shut. 

“What happens if you lose power?”

“We have to come start the generator,” she said. 

They stood there for a moment looking at each other. “Are you worried?” Michael asked quietly. She shrugged. 

“Not the biggest fan of storms,” she said with another shrug. Michael wanted to ask more, but Gavin appeared. 

“We are heading out, the rain really coming down,” he told them. They nodded. 

“I better go check on my grandma,” Michael said to Lindsay. “You want to tail me?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she said. 

 

The sky had gotten really dark. It was only four and it looked like it was nine at night. Steady rain fell and wind buffeted against the marine center. Michael took Lindsay's hand. 

“We'll be okay,” he said not thrilled to be driving in the rain. 

They ran across the parking lot. He was soaked to the bone instantly. Sliding into his car, he turned on the engine and wiped his glasses off. The parking lot was already filling up with water. 

The drive to his grandma's house was pretty smooth. There was lightening in the distance, but it was still far off. Cars moved a bit slower on the roads, but nothing too bad. 

 

The trailer park was a traffic jam. Apparently they were clearing out and told to go to the high school gym up the road. The thunder was closer now and the wind was blowing harder. Branches were down as he drove to his grandma's trailer. 

He sat in his car for a moment to calm his nerves. The storm was happening so fast. It had rained and even stormed a bit while he had been there, but not like this.

Then Lindsay was banging on his car window. He got out. 

“We have to take her to the high school!” she yelled over the wind. Michael nodded and fumbled with his keys. 

“Mikey!” his grandma sounded surprised to see him. 

“We've got to go grandma,” he said looking for a bag to put her things in. 

“Go where?” she asked. 

“The high school gym,” Lindsay answered. “There's a bad storm.”

“A storm,” his grandma echoed. She didn't seem concerned, but Michael didn't like the way the trailer shook. 

“Yeah it's pretty bad. Can I take you to the car?” Lindsay asked after finding an umbrella. His grandma nodded. 

Lindsay gave Michael a small smile and then disappeared out the door.

The trailer shook with a boom of thunder and the lights went out. Michael felt panic rise up inside of him. He was sure the trailer was going to blow away at any moment. He bolted out the door. Lightening lit up the eerily dark trailer park. 

He climbed into Lindsay's car. His grandma was safely tucked into the back seat. The thunder was jarring and the rain was coming down in sheets. Michael looked at Lindsay. She had tied her wet hair back. 

“We got this right?” She asked. Michael took a deep breath. 

“I think so.”

 

The drive to the high school was slow. Streets were flooded and it was hard to see through the rain. The radio was a soft murmur underneath the pounding of rain and crashes of thunder. 

“Let's let her out by the door,” Lindsay said pointing at a gym door. People were seen going inside if Michael looked hard enough. 

“And then are you going to park?” Michael wasn't sure if she was going to head home. He didn't like the idea of her driving alone in the storm. 

She smiled. “Power went out,” was all she said. For a moment Michael could only hear the wipers swish across the windshield. 

“Wait here and I'll be right back,” Michael said as he got out of the car. If she needed to go to the marine center, then he was going with her. 

Michael got soaked for the fourth? Fifth? Time that day. He wasn't even sure. The car ride had made him realize how tired he was. He was ready to eat and go to sleep. 

He got him grandma situated inside near people she knew. 

Then it was back outside.

The storm hadn't slowed down one bit. 

“It's supposed to subside around nine pm,” Lindsay told Michael as she scrolled through the weather app on her phone. It was currently a little after six. 

“Great,” Michael mumbled. She told him it could be worse. He said he didn't want to see what worse could be. 

 

The streets were filled with water and the parking lot at the marine center was completely under water. They sat in the car debating. 

She suggested leaving the car where it was. They were currently parked on high ground. Michael shrugged. 

“Isn't water a conductor?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she said flatly. They watched lightening illuminate the sky. He took her hand. 

“We will be fine,” Michael said unconvincingly. 

“Did you ever lose yourself to get what you want? Did you ever get on a ride or want to get off?” she said. Michael narrowed his eyes at her. 

“Are you... are you singing Bet On It?” he asked. She grinned. 

“I'm not gonna stop that's who I am! I'll give it all I got that is my plan!” she continued. He shook his head. 

“We're going to fucking die,” he groaned. 

“Let's go,” she said cutting the engine. Michael sighed and then took a deep breath. They opened their doors at the same time and got out. They met at the front of the car and joined hands. 

Then they ran. 

The water was halfway up their shins and the rain got into their eyes. They kept each other from falling into the water. The lightening lit up the sky. The wind blew the rain straight at their faces. 

It was terrible. 

And the entire time Lindsay sang Bet On It at the top of her lungs. 

They bounded up onto the front porch and stopped to catch their breath. Michael gulped in air. Lindsay reached over and cupped his face. 

“That was... insane,” she gasped. 

“Yeah,” was all he could say. He leaned into her touch. Michael took a final deep breath and then pull Lindsay to him. He pushed their lips together. She dragged her fingers through his wet hair as she moved her lips against his. He kept kissing her even though his lungs once again burned. 

He stopped and pressed his forehead to hers. She told him she felt like she was in that scene from the Notebook. He frowned. 

“Way to fucking ruin it Lindsay,” he snapped. She laughed. “Just open the door.” 

She pouted and he crossed his arms. “No you ruined it. Open the damn door.”

She laughed harder. 

He smiled. 

 

Lindsay got the generator up and running within a few minutes. The lights flickered to life. The storm continued to rage, but it wasn't so loud inside the thick walls of the marine rescue. They quickly went around checking the animals. 

“Alright let's get out of these clothes,” Lindsay announced putting her hands on her hips. 

“Wow Lindsay. You're so great at wooing me,” Michael said sarcastically. She shoved him and told him to suck her dick. 

“We've got some old bathing suits and clothes back here,” she said digging through a closet. 

“That sounds gross,” he complained. She turned and narrowed her eyes at him. 

“Old like we don't use them anymore dumbass,” she told him. He gave her a wide grin. 

“I'm just kidding, god,” he said dramatically. Lindsay rolled her eyes. 

They changed in silence. Michael found swim trunks that fit and tied a bikini top around his top. “Okay I'm good,” he said. Lindsay looked over and burst out laughing. He acted shocked and hurt. “I thought I looked good!” he whined. She shook her head. 

“So beautiful Michael Jones. I don't know how I'm going to keep my hands off you,” she laughed wrapping her arms around his waist. 

“That sounds about right. I'm fucking sexy. Just try to keep your hands to yourself,” he challenged tucking her hair behind her ear. She smiled. 

Lindsay told him he looked better in it then she did.

He acted appalled. Michael told her she looked great in her too big swim trunks and bikini top. He kissed her to prove his point claiming he only kissed good looking people. 

“Are you kissing a lot of people then?” she asked. He pretended to think about it for a moment and counted on his fingers. “Fucking asshole,” Lindsay laughed hitting his arm. 

“I'm sorry. Gavin's just like such a fucking babe,” he told her with a laugh. She shook her head. 

“What am I going to do with you Michael?” she asked. He shrugged. 

“Take me back to your apartment?” he suggested giving her puppy dog eyes. 

“When the weather calms down a bit,” she said. He nodded. “Are you going to wear that all night?” she asked after another kiss. 

“Fuck yeah!” he said with a smile. She laughed shaking her head. 

“Why'd I even ask?”


End file.
